We summon the futures
To play with them now
summ( )n
To play with them now
summ( )n
We summon the futures.
To play with them now.
summ( )n
Summ( )n ?
Summ( )n supports those who create the new - helping them to create this ‘new’ with more grounded insights, critical imagination, and real-world impact.
We are a collective of experienced and passionate practitioners: researchers, designers, and business innovators.
We work with teams who create:
We are a collective of experienced and passionate practitioners: researchers, designers, and business innovators.
We work with teams who create:
- new products and services
- new business models and strategies
- new mindsets and new meanings
Navigate the chaos together
It’s not about creating new for the sake of creating the new.
We all are aware of the complexity of today's global challenges - from climate change to geopolitical shocks, disruptions caused by ever-accelerating technologies, sometimes leading to the ruptures of the very social fabric.
We help teams make sense of these complexities, act with greater awareness, and move forward - not just coping with difficulties, but finding solutions that help people adapt better, understand more clearly what is happening, and improve the quality of their lives in a constantly changing world.
We all are aware of the complexity of today's global challenges - from climate change to geopolitical shocks, disruptions caused by ever-accelerating technologies, sometimes leading to the ruptures of the very social fabric.
We help teams make sense of these complexities, act with greater awareness, and move forward - not just coping with difficulties, but finding solutions that help people adapt better, understand more clearly what is happening, and improve the quality of their lives in a constantly changing world.
Three interconnected practices:
Understanding People
Exploring Futures
Transforming Minds
Exploring Futures
Transforming Minds
- * All pictures are by Summ( )n
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Understanding People
Exploring Futures
Transforming Minds
Exploring Futures
Transforming Minds
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Understanding People
Why we do it
Every bold idea, product, or strategy depends on how well you understand the people it's meant for. And most organisations still act on assumptions, not real insights.
What we do
We help you deeply understand the people of today - not just what they do, but how and why they do it. We look beyond surface behaviours to reveal the beliefs, desires, dilemmas and contexts that shape them.
What’s in it for you?
You’ll see your audience more clearly - not as vague “users” or “segments,” but as real people. This clarity leads to sharper strategies, more resonant products, and stronger emotional connections.
In short: fewer missteps, more meaningful impact.
Every bold idea, product, or strategy depends on how well you understand the people it's meant for. And most organisations still act on assumptions, not real insights.
What we do
We help you deeply understand the people of today - not just what they do, but how and why they do it. We look beyond surface behaviours to reveal the beliefs, desires, dilemmas and contexts that shape them.
What’s in it for you?
You’ll see your audience more clearly - not as vague “users” or “segments,” but as real people. This clarity leads to sharper strategies, more resonant products, and stronger emotional connections.
In short: fewer missteps, more meaningful impact.
Exploring Futures
Why we do it
Organisations that rely only on market reports and obvious trends risk missing the deeper shifts already reshaping the world. To create what's next, you need to learn to see not just further ahead, but also to the sides and into the depth (and sometimes look back, too).
What we do
We help you explore the futures: of your organisation,
your industry, and of the broader social landscape.
Not as a guessing game but as a collaborative exploration
of what could disrupt, what might emerge -
and what you might shape.
What’s in it for you?
You gain a strategic edge, we believe. In other words, clarity in uncertainty, confidence to act early, and inspiration to innovate from a place of possibility, not fear. You become better prepared for what’s coming - and bolder in creating for the worlds what come next.
Organisations that rely only on market reports and obvious trends risk missing the deeper shifts already reshaping the world. To create what's next, you need to learn to see not just further ahead, but also to the sides and into the depth (and sometimes look back, too).
What we do
We help you explore the futures: of your organisation,
your industry, and of the broader social landscape.
Not as a guessing game but as a collaborative exploration
of what could disrupt, what might emerge -
and what you might shape.
What’s in it for you?
You gain a strategic edge, we believe. In other words, clarity in uncertainty, confidence to act early, and inspiration to innovate from a place of possibility, not fear. You become better prepared for what’s coming - and bolder in creating for the worlds what come next.
Transforming Minds
Why we do it
Just generating ideas about a possible future is not enough. To truly shape new, alternative scenarios, people need to imagine “new selves” – how they themselves might change in that future and what kinds of “other others” they might meet there?
What we do
But doing this is much harder than saying it.
We are all reluctant to become different, even temporarily - and when we try, we often just act out old roles. That’s why we create special procedures and settings that help people try being new - even if only in a playful form. We design immersive, game-like situations from the future, where participants don’t just think about change - they step into it. This gives them the chance to feel the future, experience the difference, and “rehearse” ways of acting
within it.
What’s in it for you?
You and your team become more flexible, empathetic, and experienced in navigating unpredictable changes. You gain not only a set of new ideas and concepts, but also a team that has lived through the experience of transformation - and is ready to lead it further.
Just generating ideas about a possible future is not enough. To truly shape new, alternative scenarios, people need to imagine “new selves” – how they themselves might change in that future and what kinds of “other others” they might meet there?
What we do
But doing this is much harder than saying it.
We are all reluctant to become different, even temporarily - and when we try, we often just act out old roles. That’s why we create special procedures and settings that help people try being new - even if only in a playful form. We design immersive, game-like situations from the future, where participants don’t just think about change - they step into it. This gives them the chance to feel the future, experience the difference, and “rehearse” ways of acting
within it.
What’s in it for you?
You and your team become more flexible, empathetic, and experienced in navigating unpredictable changes. You gain not only a set of new ideas and concepts, but also a team that has lived through the experience of transformation - and is ready to lead it further.
Our clients
Summ( )n is 15 years young; below is a list of 15 selected brands we worked with:
Our clients
Summ( )n is 15 years young; below is a list of 15 selected brands we worked with:
Our formats
From short inspirational workshops...
Our training modules
Our ‘R&D’
The Futures of Trust(s)
Exploring the unfolding spirals of trust
in the societies of tomorrow
Working Session
in the societies of tomorrow
Working Session
Trusts in Transition
Set of EU Trust Profiles
Working Session
Working Session
The energy transition
isn't about buildings.
It's about the people living in them.
isn't about buildings.
It's about the people living in them.
Renovation is still built around kWh and CO₂.
But people relate to their homes very differently: shaped by their values, their vision of a resilient future, their preferred pace and sense of agency. Ignore that, and projects stall or fall apart.
Our approach
Vivant+ groups homeowners into distinct renovator mindsets, so people understand their needs,
and providers can offer genuinely personalized solutions.
The energy transition
isn't about buildings.
It's about the people
living in them.
isn't about buildings.
It's about the people
living in them.
Renovation is still built around kWh and CO₂.
But people relate to their homes very differently: shaped by their values, their vision of a resilient future, their preferred pace and sense of agency. Ignore that, and projects stall or fall apart.
Our approach
Vivant+ groups homeowners into distinct renovator mindsets, so people understand their needs,
and providers can offer genuinely personalized solutions.
A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY
OF URBAN YOUTH IN TRANSITION
MORE INFO SOON!
A COMPREHENSIVE STUDY
OF URBAN YOUTH IN TRANSITION
MORE INFO SOON!
People behind Summ( )n
Summ( )n was founded by Slava and Katerina - life-long dialectical collaborators:
we refuse simple, shallow answers and dive into multiple complexities –
but then make it workable and navigatable.
Slava brings over 25 years of experience in strategic innovation, with deep expertise in contextual research, futures thinking, and participatory design. He’s the architect behind many of Summ( )n’s original methods and tools.
Katerina, a psychologist and communication strategist, leads R&D (and pretty much everything else). Her work focuses on how to shift perception, attitude, and behaviour across cultures, generations, and systems.
Together, they’ve built Summ( )n as a place where human insight, future vision, and creative transformation meet - and where clients are invited to co-invent what comes next.
we refuse simple, shallow answers and dive into multiple complexities –
but then make it workable and navigatable.
Slava brings over 25 years of experience in strategic innovation, with deep expertise in contextual research, futures thinking, and participatory design. He’s the architect behind many of Summ( )n’s original methods and tools.
Katerina, a psychologist and communication strategist, leads R&D (and pretty much everything else). Her work focuses on how to shift perception, attitude, and behaviour across cultures, generations, and systems.
Together, they’ve built Summ( )n as a place where human insight, future vision, and creative transformation meet - and where clients are invited to co-invent what comes next.
Network of Summ( )n Associates -
partners from fields such as research, design, and technology
partners from fields such as research, design, and technology
Summ( )n & Reach Network
In 2012, Summ( )n joined Reach Network - an international network of agencies specialising in human-centred design research and service innovation. This connection plugged us into a global community of pioneering professionals and opened the door to large-scale, cross-cultural projects around the world.
Today, the network includes over 20 agencies - and continues to grow.
Today, the network includes over 20 agencies - and continues to grow.
Just a few recent projects we've done:
Together with a leading global provider
of the healthcare solutions we explored
the meaning of 'premium healthcare'.
of the healthcare solutions we explored
the meaning of 'premium healthcare'.
We have prepared and conducted a large strategic exercise for one of the leading
R&D centres in the area of smart textiles.
R&D centres in the area of smart textiles.
We've been asked to design a training program for the e-commerce managers
of a large FMCG holding based on our serious game 'Future of e-Commerce'.
of a large FMCG holding based on our serious game 'Future of e-Commerce'.
What’s this ( ) in Summ( )n ?
To summon the new, we must first create space for it.
In a world crowded with assumptions and inherited models,
the future has no room to enter.
For us, the ‘h( )ole’ is an integral element of summoning –
both a symbolic and practical act of clearing the space.
We need to tear in the fabric of the present to let the new appear.
This (un)space - this emptiness - is where possibility begins.
In the hole, teams see differently, think more freely, and begin
to build futures not yet imagined.
In a world crowded with assumptions and inherited models,
the future has no room to enter.
For us, the ‘h( )ole’ is an integral element of summoning –
both a symbolic and practical act of clearing the space.
We need to tear in the fabric of the present to let the new appear.
This (un)space - this emptiness - is where possibility begins.
In the hole, teams see differently, think more freely, and begin
to build futures not yet imagined.
Let's talk – drop us a message
at hello at summon-futures.com
at hello at summon-futures.com
We are based in Eindhoven,The Netherlands,
but work globally.
We used to actively share our thoughts and observations
on multiple social media; most of them got rancid lately,
so we only use this one channel for now:
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